Impact of Service Quality Management (SQM) Practices on Indian Railways - A Study of South Central Railways

M. Devi Prasad, B. Raja Shekhar

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to present a framework developed for assisting Railways to monitor andcontrol the quality of services provided to passengers. The study evaluated the passenger Rail Service quality ofIndian Railways by developing SQM (Service Quality Management) model on the basis of SERVQUAL andRail Transport quality. Three new dimensions (Service Product, Social Responsibility and service delivery) areadded to the original five SERVQUAL dimensions (i.e. assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness andtangibles). The instrument is tested for reliability and validity. Empirical study was conducted at SecunderabadRailway station of South Central Railway, India, using a purposive sample of 200 respondents. Valid responsesfrom the questionnaire are statistically analyzed by using factor analysis. This research has also identified theorder of importance for these eight factors, for example service delivery and social responsibility are identifiedas the most important and the least important factors respectively. This study would help the Railways to monitor,control and improve the service.

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